Terminal applicator having means for separating dies



G, w. RIDER TERMINAL APPLICATOR HAVING MEANS FOR SEPARATING DIES FiledSept. 13, 1868 Dec. 29, 1970 6 Shets-Shent 1 (5. W. RIDER Dec. 29, 1970TERMINAL APPLICATOR HAVING MEANS FOR SEPARATINQDIES 6 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Sept. 13

Dec. 29, 1970 G. w. RIDER NAL APPLICATOR HAVING MEANS FOR SEPARA'IINGDIE TERMI 6 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 13, 1968 G. W. RIDER Dec. 29, 1970TERMINAL APPLICATOR HAVING MEANS FOR SEPARA'I'ING DIES 6 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Filed Sept. 13. 1968 Dec. 29, 1910 G. w. RIDER 3,550,239

TERMINAL APPLICATOR HAVING MEANS FOR SEPARATING DIES 6 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Sept. 13. l968 I37 2:? I78 0 ms 239 G. W. RIDER Dec. 29, 1970TERMINAL APPLICATOR HAVING MEANS FOR SEPARATING DIES 6 Sheets-Sheet 6Filed Sept. 13, 1968 United States Patent 3,550,239 TERMINAL APPLICATORHAVING MEANS FOR SEPARATING DIES George William Rider, Harrisburg, Pa.,assignor to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa. Filed Sept. 13, 1968, Ser.No. 759,578 lint. Cl. H011 43/04; B21d 11/04, 31/02 US. Cl. 29-203 6Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Terminal applicator for applyingterminals to wires has fixed crimping die and movable crimping die.Movable die is connected by a lost motion coupling to the ram of a pressand is resiliently biased, with respect to the ram, towards the fixeddie. Means are provided for manually raising the movable die, when themovable die is at the upper limit of its stroke, against the force ofthe biasing spring in the lost motion connection thereby to permitservicing or changing of the terminal strip or belt in the applicator.Raising of the movable die also has the effect of raising a guide platewhich extends over the terminal strip and opening a switch tode-energize the control circuitry for the press.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to apparatus forcrimping electrical connectors onto the ends of wires and is related tomy copending application Ser. No. 738,326 filed June 19, 1968.

It is now common practice in the electrical terminal art to crimpterminals onto wires by means of automatic or semi-automatic applicatorswhich have feeding means for feeding a terminal strip or belt towardsthe operating zone of the machine and crimping dies for crimping theleading terminal of the strip or belt onto an inserted wire. The termstrip as used above is intended to refer to a length of connectedterminals which were manufactured by stamping from a continuous lengthof strip metal so that the adjacent terminals of the strip are connectedby integral metal slugs or by an integral carrier strip. At the time ofcrimping, the individual terminals are removed from the strip, usuallyby shearing, and the connecting portions of the strip (the slugs or thecarrier strip) are discarded as scrap. The term belt as used above isintended to refer to a continuous length of plastic film havingindividual terminals mounted thereon at spaced intervals. At the time ofcrimping, the individual terminals are removed from the belt and theplastic belt is usually discarded as scrap. The technique of mountingindividual terminals on a belt is used for those types of terminalswhich can not be conveniently manufactured as a continuous strip, forexample, high quality terminals which must have their entire surfacesplated with tin or gold. A strip terminal, even if plated, willinevitably have an unplated surface portion which is exposed when theterminal is sheared from the strip.

The present invention is addressed generally to the achievement of animproved applicator for terminals in the form of a continuous strip orbelt which permits changing of the strip or belt in a short time by anunskilled operator, which can be easily and quickly serviced, and whichhas improved safety features.

A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a terminal applicatorhaving fixed and movable crimping dies and belt feeding means forfeeding a belt having terminals thereon towards the dies. The movablecrimping die has a lost motion coupling to a press ram and isresiliently biased towards the fixed die. Means are provided formanually raising the movable die, when it is 3,550,239 Patented Dec. 29,1970 ICE in its remote position with respect to the fixed die, againstthe biasing force of the spring in the lost motion connection and forsimultaneously opening an electrical switch which prevents actuation ofthe press ram. At the same time, a guide plate, which normally extendsover the belt, is raised. The arrangement is such that the operator needonly shift the position of a lever to raise the movable crimping die,de-energize the press motor, and raise the guide plate so that one beltmay be removed from the applicator and another belt installed.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a preferred form of terminalapplicator mounted in a crimping press in accordance with the invention,this view showing the positions of the parts at the beginning of theoperating cycle;

FIG. 2 is a side view, on an enlarged scale, of the applicator portionof the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the applicator portion of the apparatusshowing the positions of the parts at the beginning of the operatingcycle;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the applicator showing theterminal belt feed mechanism and the crimping dies, the upper crimpingdies being elevated from their normal positions in the interest ofclarity;

FIG. 5 is a sectional side view taken along the lines 55 of FIG. 3 butshowing the positions of the parts immediately after the leadingterminal of the belt has been crimped onto a wire and prior to removalof the crimped terminal from the belt;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the positions of theparts after the belt has been moved away from the crimping zone to breakthe crimped termination away from the belt;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are views taken along the lines 7-7 and 88 of FIG. 2 andshowing respectively the drive sprockets for the belt feed mechanism andthe actuating means for these drive sprockets;

FIG. 9 is a view taken along the lines 9-9 of FIG. 3 showing details ofa lifting mechanism for raising the upper or movable crimping dies awayfrom the lower or fixed dies for servicing or threading purposes, thisview showing the positions of the parts when the dies are in theirlowered or normal positions; and

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing the positions of the partswhen the movable crimping dies are in their raised positions.

Referring first to FIG. 4, a typical form of terminal belt 2 comprises arelatively wide strip 4 of suitable plastic such as Mylar (polyethyleneterephthalate) and a relatively narrow strip of the same material 6which extends along one edge of the wide strip. The ring tongue portions8 of the terminals are held against the surface of the wide plasticstrip 4 by the narrow strip 6 which is bonded as by welding at discretelocations surrounding the terminal tongues 10. The neck portions 12 ofthe terminals extend laterally beyond the plastic strip 4 and merge withthe barrel portions 14 of the terminals. The wide strip 4 of plastic hasspaced-apart perforations 11 along its one side which are adapted to beengaged by suitable teeth of the feeding mechanism when the strip orbelt is placed in an applicator. The barrel portions of the terminalsare adapted to be crimped onto the exposed core 16 and the insulation 18of a wire during the crimping operation. During the interval betweencrimping operations, the belt is fed towards the crimping zone of theapplicator to locate an uncrimped terminal between the crimping dies. Itwill be understood that a wide variety of types of terminal devices(including splices) are commercially available in belt form although thedetails of the different types of terminals will differ from those shownin the drawing. The term terminals is used as a matter of convenience aherein and is intended to include all types of connecting devices.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the disclosed embodiment of the inventioncomprises a press having a suitable housing 22 with a channel-shapedcasting 24 mounted against one side thereof and defining a gap 26 withinwhich the applicator for crimping the terminals onto the wires ismounted. The applicator is supported on an additional frame member 28having a face portion 30. The press ram 32 is slidably mounted in aguide means above the gap 26 and is coupled by means of a link 34 to onearm 36 of a bell crank. This bell crank is pivoted at its elbow 38 inthe press housing and has a rearwardly extending arm 40 which is coupledby means of a ball-joint 42 to a connecting rod 44. The lower end ofthis connecting rod is coupled by means of a bell-joint 46 to a plate 48which is eccentrically mounted on a shaft 50, a conventionalelectrically activated single revolution clutch 52 being provided on theshaft to drive it through a single revolution when a suitable switch isenergized. The shaft has a flywheel 54 on its end which is coupled bymeans of a belt 56 to electric motor 58. It will thus be apparent thatthe motor and the flywheel rotate continuously and that during eachoperating cycle, the technician causes the clutch 52 to be engagedthereby to rotate the plate 48 and move the connecting rod 44 downwardlyas viewed in the drawing, then upwardly. It should be mentioned at thispoint, that at the beginning of the operating cycle, the ram 32 is in apartially lowered position rather than in its raised position forreasons which will be explained as this description proceeds.

The terminal belt 2 is fed through the gap 26 of the apparatus by meansof a pair of spaced-apart sprocket wheels 60, 62 (FIG. 3 and 7) mountedon parallel spacedapart shafts 68, in recesses 64, 66 of a mountingblock 72, this mounting block being rearwardly movable as will bedescribed below. The right hand sprocket as viewed in FIG. 7, 62 isdriven in a manner which will be described below and the two sprocketsare coupled by means of a feed belt 74 which passes through a recess 76on the upper side of the block 72. Feed belt 74 has internal teeth 78 onits underside which are engaged with the sprocket teeth 80 of the twosprocket wheels. Belt 74 also has relatively large spaced-apart teeth 82on its external surface which are adapted to enter the spaced-apartperforations 11 of the terminal belt 2 and pull the belt through thecrimping zone during operation. As will be apparent from FIG. 7, arelatively large number of the teeth 82 are in engagement with theterminal belt 2 at all times so that the danger of a breakdown as aresult of tearing or an imperfection in the terminal belt 2 isminimized.

The sprocket 62 is mounted on the shaft 70 by means of a one-way clutch86 (FIG. 8) and the shaft 70 has a drive sprocket 84 mounted on thisclutch immediately behind the driven sprocket 62. The drive sprocket isintermittently indexed by means of a detent 88 mounted in a recess 90.This recess is provided in the cross-member of a yoke 92 (FIG. 4), thedetent 88 being resiliently biased towards the drive sprocket by meansof a suitable leaf spring 96 on the external surface of the yoke 92. Theyoke 92 has an arm 100 which extends behind the rearwardly facingsurface of the block 72 and a pin 102 mounted in this block extendsthrough an opening in the arm 100, the arrangement being such as topermit rearward motion of the block 72 in a manner which will bedescribed below.

As shown best in FIG. 2, a pin 102 is mounted in, and extends from, thearm 100 of yoke 92 and a clevis block 98 is pivotally mounted on thispin. A connecting rod 104 is pivoted to the block 98 and extendsdownwardly towards the base of the press. The lower end of thisconnecting rod is pivotally connected at 106 to a lever 108, this leverbeing pivoted intermediate its ends at 110 to a bracket 112 secured tothe side of the press housing. The rearwardly extending arm of the lever108 is pivoted at 114- to an upwardly extending connecting rod 116 andthe upper end of this rod, in turn, is connected by a weldment 117 to afeed actuator arm 118 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3). The feed actuating arm 118 ispivoted at 120 to a bracket 122 secured to the side of the presshousing. This arm, 118, extends leftwardly as viewed in FIG. 3 throughthe press housing and has a bearing block 124 secured to its inner end.A rod 126 extends slidably downwardly through an opening in block 124and has a clevis 128 on its upper end by means of which it is pivotallyconnected at 130 to the arm 40 of the previously identified bell crank.A spring 132 surrounds the rod 126 and bears against the clevis 128 andagainst the surface of the block 124 to permit overtravel of the rod 126when the arm 118 moves against an adjustable stop 134 mounted on theframe casting 24.

At the beginning of the operating cycle, the bell crank arm 40 will haveswung through a clockwise are from its upper limit of travel, the uppercrimping dies will be partially lowered, and the arm 118, will beagainst the stop 134. During the crimping cycle, the arm 40 movesfurther downwardly and the rod 126 is moved downwardly through the block124, the spring 132 being compressed during this portion of the cycle.When the bell crank arm 40 subsequently moves upwardly as viewed in FIG.1, after the terminal has been crimped, the spring 132 returns to itsnormal position and the arm 118 is then swung through a slight arc aboutits pivotal axis 120. Connecting rod 116 is moved upwardly as a resultof such upward movement of arm 118 and the arm 104 is moved downwardly(see FIG. 2) thereby to index the drive sprocket 84 and the feedsprocket 62. As will be explained more fully below, after the arm 40reaches the upper limit of its travel and then moves downwardly untilthe feed arm 118 is again located against the stop 134. Feeding of thebelt thus takes place during the final portion of the operating cyclebut before the cycle is completed.

During each operating cycle, the terminal belt 2 is advanced over theupper surface of the block 72 by an amount equal to the spacing betweenthe individual terminals on the belt. Advantageously, an apron 136 isprovided on the front edge of the block 72 and this apron extendsrightwardly and laterally in FIG. 4 beyond the edge of the block asindicated at 139 so that the belt, from which the terminals have beenremoved, will be led away from the operating or crimping zone of theapparatus. It will also be noted from FIG. 4 that a guide means forguiding the belt towards the operating zone is provided in the form of abent rod secured to a bracket 137 which is fixed to the front face ofblock 72.

The terminal belt 2 is held against the upper surface of the apron 136by means of a retaining plate or guide plate 138 having a groove 140 onits underside which is adapted to receive the upper edges of the teeth82 of the feed belt. The retainer plate 138 normally occupies theposition shown in FIG. 5 but is pivotally mounted at its right-hand endas viewed in FIG. 5 by means of arms 142 which extend on each side ofthe upstanding ears 144 of a bracket 146. When the applicator isdeactivated for servicing purposes, or to thread a new section ofterminal tape through the feed mechanism, this plate is raised in amanner which will be described below.

The block 72 has a rearwardly extending recess 158 on its undersidewhich is lined with a suitable wearresistant material 163 as shown inFIG. 4 and which straddles a fixed support or guide block 160. Therearward end of this support block is, in turn, supported on a block 162and secured and positioned by a fastener 166 which extends through theblocks 160, 162 and into an applicator base block 164. The applicatorbase block, in turn, is mounted on the upper surface of the framesection 28. The left-hand end of. the support block is supported on theupper surface 168 of a support block 170 which is mounted on the framemember 28 and has forwardly extending feet 172 which are secured to theplate 30 by means of suitable fasteners 174. The lower or fixed crimpingdie 176 for crimping the barrel portion of a terminal onto theinsulation of a wire and the wire barrel crimping die 178 are secured onthe upper surface of the support block 160 and fixed by means of afastener 182 to a rightwardly extending arm 180 of an additional toolingsupport block 184, this block being mounted on and secured to thepreviously identified support block 170.

The feed support block 72 is slidably mounted on the fixed block 160 andmoved rightwardly as viewed in FIGS. and 6, during each operating cycle,to separate a crimped terminal from the terminal tape. Such rightwardmovement of the block 72 is achieved by means of a connecting rod 148which is pivotally mounted between ears on the bracket 146 and whichextends through an opening in the frame section 24 as shown in FIG. 1.The right-hand end of the connecting rod 148 is pivotally connected at150 to a lever 152 which extends upwardly as viewed in FIG. 1 and ispivoted to a' bracket 153 fixed to the frame. The upper end of the lever152 has a cam roller 154 thereon which is adapted to be engaged by a camplate 156 mounted on the periphery of the plate 48, which, as notedabove, is secured to the shaft 50. It will be apparent from FIG. 1 thatduring each complete revolution of the shaft 50, the cam plate 156 willcause the lever 152 to swing through a slight counterclockwise arc aboutits pivotal axis thereby moving the connecting rod 148 rightwardly andmoving the feed mechanism support block 72 from the position of FIG. 5to the position of FIG. 6. Since the guide plate 138 is mounted on thesupport block 72 by means of a bracket 146, it also moves rightwardlyduring this interval.

As also shown in FIG. 5, the feed mechanism support block 72 is normallybiased leftwardly, that is, to its forward position relative to thefront of the applicator, by means of a spring 155 having one end securedto a pin 157 mounted in the base plate 164 and having its other endsecured to a pin 159 which extends downwardly from a bracket 161, thisbracket being integral with the block 72 and extending downwardlybesides the fixed support block 160. As will be explained more fullybelow, rightward movement of the feed mechanism support block 72 takesplace while the dies are in their closed positions and the crimpedterminal is being held between the fixed and movable dies so that theterminal will be broken away from the rightwardly moving (as viewed inFIG. 5) belt.

The upper or movable crimping dies 186, 188 are mounted by means of afastener 190 on the face of a die mounting block 192 which has a lostmotion connection with the press ram 32. This lost motion connectioncomprises a pair of upwardly extending arms 194 on each side of the diemounting block which are slidably received in vertical slots 196 on thesides of the ram 32. Transversely extending slots 200 are provided onthe ram sides intermediate the ends of the slots 196 and pins 198 extendthrough the arms 194 and into these slots thereby to permit a limitedamount of lost motion between the die mounting block and the press ram.The die mounting block is normally biased downwardly to the positionshown in FIG. 4 by means of a coil spring 202 which extends into alignedrecesses on the lower surface and upper surface respectively of thepress ram of the die mounting block. During downward movement of theram, this spring is compressed as shown in FIG. 5 and the pins 198 moverelatively upwardly in the slots 200 until the lost motion has beentaken up.

As previously noted, FIG. 3 shows the positions of the parts at thebeginning of the operating cycle at which time an uncrimped terminalwill be contained between the fixed and movable crimping dies and theram 32 will be in a partially lowered position. During the operatingcycle, the ram 32 will move relatively downwardly from the positionshown in FIG. 2 until the spring 202 is compressed as explained above,and the pins 198 are at the upper limit of their relative motion withinthe slots 200. It is desirable, however, to be able to move the diemounting block 192 upwardly independently of the ram thereby to raisethe movable crimping dies when it is necessary to thread a new terminaltape into the apparatus or for other servicing purposes. This isaccomplished by means of a pin 204 extending laterally from the side ofthe die mounting block 192 above a reduced end 206 of an arm 208.Referring to FIG. 9, the arm 208 extends rearwardly and is pivotallymounted at 210 on a bracket 212 secured to the right hand (as viewed inFIG. 3) side of the press frame. Arm 208 is raised by means of a rolleror bearing 214 which extends through a horizontally extending slot 216in the arm 208 and which is eccentrically mounted on a short shaft 218.The shaft 218 is rotatably mounted in the bracket 212 and is providedwith a forwardly extending handle 220. It will be apparent that when thehandle is moved upwardly from the position of FIG. 9 to the position ofFIG. 10, the reduced end 206 of the arm 208 will engage the pin 204 andraise the tool mounting block relative to the press ram.

In the disclosed embodiment, 2. depending hook 224 is provided on thearm 208 and is interengaged with a similar hook 226 on the upper surfaceof the belt guide plate 138. It will thus be apparent that when the toolmounting block 192 is raised, the retaining plate 138 will also beraised so the operator can thread a new belt through the apparatus bymerely laying its surface against the upper surface of the block 72.

The disclosed embodiment is also provided with a safety feature in theform of a switch 221 (FIG. 2) mounted on the previously identifiedbracket 212 and having a switch arm 222 in engagement with the surfaceof the shaft 218. In the immediate vicinity of the switch arm, thesurface of the shaft is ground fiat so that the switch arm occupies itsnormal position when the handle 220 is in the position of FIG. 2, thatis, when the applicator is being operated. When the handle 220 israised, however, switch arm 222 is swung inwardly by the shaft 218 toopen the switch 221 which is suitably wired in with the control circuitsfor the applicator in a manner such that the motor is de-energized whenthe handle 220 is raised.

The single revolution clutch 52, which is engaged for each operatingcycle of the apparatus, can be actuated by a suitable foot switch ifdesired, however, it is preferable to provide a switch device which isenergized immediately when the wire end is inserted and properly locatedbetween the crimping dies. In the disclosed embodiment, a switch deviceof the type fully described in U.S. Pat. 3,289,445 is providedcomprising a metallic wire end detector 225 which is contained in aninsulating block 227. This block is secured to an arm 229 which, inturn, is mounted on a transversely extending arm of an L-shaped bracket233. The bracket 233 extends rearwardly, as viewed in FIG. 5, beyond andabove the ears 144 of the bracket 146 and is pivotally connected at 235to a vertically extending plate 237, this plate being fixed to the righthand ends, as viewed in FIG. 5, of the blocks 160, 164 by fasteners 239.An electrical cable 231 is contained in the arm 229 and has its endconnected to the sensing conductor 225. This cable extends rightwardlyas viewed in FIG. 5 to the circuitry described in U.S. Pat. 3,289,445.The arrangement is thus such that when a wire end is located between theupper and lower crimping dies with its end contacting the sensingconductor 225, the single revolution clutch 52 will be energized tooperate the apparatus for a single cycle.

The wire end detecting means is raised, when the handle 220 is raised,by virtue of the fact that the arm 229 extends above the guide plate138. When the guide plate is swung upwardly about its pivotal axis, itmoves against the underside of the arm 229 and raises this arm, and thebracket 233 about the pivotal axis 235.

It is desirable to provide a resilient biasing means for holding thewire end detecting means in its lowered position to insure that themetallic sensing means 225 will be precisely located behind the dieswhen the parts are in their normal positions. In the disclosedembodiment, a leaf spring 244 is provided for this purpose which ismounted on a plate 248 secured by fasteners 250 to the bracket 233. Thefree end of the leaf spring extends into a recess on the underside ofthe tooling block 192 and is held in this recess by a pin 246. When theram and the tooling block are in their normal positions at the beginningof an operating cycle, this spring is resiliently flexed downwardly sothat it biases the pivoted bracket 233 to the limit of itscounterclockwise travel as viewed in FIG. 5. When the bracket is solocated, the metallic sensing means 225 will be located accurately withrespect to the crimping dies. When the ram and the tooling block move totheir lowermost positions, during crimping of a terminal onto a Wire,the leaf spring 244 will be flexed downwardly by an additional amountbut the wire end detecting assembly will not move.

After the leading terminal of the belt has been crimped onto the wire,and after the upper or movable dies have been raised from the positionof FIGS. and 6, the crimped termination is ejected laterally by means ofan ejector arm 228 pivotally connected by pin 230 between the ears of anarm 232 which is secured to a pivot pin 234. The pivotal mounting of thearm 228 on the boss 232 permits the arm itself to be moved laterally orforwardly away from the crimping zone, again for purposes of servicingor repair. The pin 234 extends through the tool mounting block 170 andhas a plate 236 secured to its rearward end. This plate extends past anarm 242 of the previously identified yoke member and has an elongatedslot which receives the pin extending from the arm 242, the arrangementbeing such that during downward movement of the connecting rod 104, theejector arm 228 is moved along an arcuate path in a clockwise directionas viewed in FIG. 3 to push the completed termination laterally awayfrom the crimping zone. The convenience and importance of this featurewill be apparent from a description of the operating cycle whichfollows.

At the beginning of the operating cycle, the parts will be in theposition of FIGS. 2 and 3 with an uncrimped terminal located between thepartially closed dies. The die holder 192 will be in its loweredposition relative to the press ram 32 as, indicated by positions of thepins 198 in FIG. 3 and by the fact that the spring 202 is in itsextended condition. The operator first inserts the stripped end 16 of awire 18 into the terminal. The wire end detector is energized by thewire thereby to engage the clutch 52 and drive the eccentric plate 48through a single revolution. During the initial portion of the stroke,the ram moves relatively downwardly until the lost motion between theram and the die holding block 192 is taken out. Thereafter, the rammoves a further portion of its downward stroke to crimp the ferrule ofthe terminal onto the wire. During this interval, and while the crimpedtermination is being held between the fixed and movable dies (FIGS. 5and 6), the connecting rod 148 is moved rightwardly under the influenceof the cam plate 156 thereby to move the belt feed support block 72 fromthe position of FIG. 5 to the position of FIG. 6. Since the terminal isbeing held firmly between the dies 176, 178, and 186, 188, the belt ispulled away from the terminal so that the tongue portion of the terminalis broken away from the belt. The block 72 then returns to its startingposition and, in fact, the terminal may be reinserted into the beltbetween the strips 4, 6 although it will not be gripped tightly sincethe weldments 10 will have been broken. Thereafter, as the ram 32 movesupwardly, the arm 228 moves through a clockwise arc to eject thecompleted termination from the crimping zone and the belt feed mechanismis actuated by the connecting rod 104 to advance the belt and positionan un- 8 crimped terminal between the crimping dies. During the finalportion of the cycle, the ram descends partially until the dies surroundthe uncrimped terminal and the parts return to the positions of FIG. 3.

Whenever it is necessary to change the belt 2, or when it is desired tochange the type of terminal being applied, it is merely necessary toraise the handle 220, remove the one belt from the applicator and locatethe new belt on the plate 139 with its perforation 11 on the teeth 82.These operations can be carried out quickly by an unskilled operator sothat the down time of the applicator is kept to an absolute minimum.

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art andvarious apparently different modifications and embodiments may be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forthin the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by wayof illustration only.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for crimping electrical terminals onto wires comprising:

first and second crimping members disposed in an operating zone, areciprocable actuator ram, said first crimping member being fixed, saidsecond crimping member having a lost motion connection to said actuatorram,

resilient means effective between said actuator ram and said secondcrimping member biasing said second crimping member towards said firstcrimping member, and

means for manually moving said second crimping member relatively awayfrom said first crimping member against the force of said resilientmeans and holding said second crimping member in a remote position withrespect to said first crimping member thereby to clear said operatingzone for servicing purposes.

2. Apparatus for crimping electrical terminals onto wires comprising:

first and second crimping members, disposed in an operating zone, areciprocable ram, motor means for actuating said ram, switch means forcontrolling said motor means,

said first crimping member being fixed, said second crimping memberhaving a lost motion connection to said ram,

resilient means interposed between said second crimping member and saidram, said resilient means biasing said second crimping member relativelytowards said first crimping member with respect to said ram, and

deactivating means for manually moving said second crimping member awayfrom said first crimping member against the force of said resilientmeans and for concomitantly opening said switch means thereby to clearsaid operating zone for servicing and prevent activation of said ramduring servicing.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said deactivating meanscomprises a pivotally mounted lever having a free end which isengageable with said second crimping member, and including means formoving said lever along an arcuate path to move said second crimpingmember away from said first crimping member.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein deactivating meanscomprises a lever pivoted at one end and having a free end in engagementwith said second crimping member, eccentric means for swinging saidlever in a direction to move said second crimping member away from saidfirst crimping member, said switch means being disposed adjacent to saideccentric means, said eccentric means being adapted to open said switchmeans when said second crimping member is moved away from said firstcrimping member by said lever.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 including wire sensing means, forenergizing said motor means, on one side of, and in alignment with, saiddies, and means con- References Cited meeting said lever and said wiresensing means whereby UNITED STATES PATENTS said W1re sensing means 15moved from said operating one by said leven SFOIZ 6. Apparatus as setforth in claim 4 including guide r 3,184,950 5/1965 sltZ means forguiding a strip of terminals through said oper- 3,386,153 6/1968 Lau 6t31 29-203 ating zone, and means connecting said lever and said guidemeans whereby said guide means is moved from said operating zone by saidlever.

THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 72307, 331

